The 100th Anniversary of the United States’ Entry into World War I

On April 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson asked a joint session of Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Congress responded with Public Resolution 65-1, 40 STAT 1. In honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I, we take a look at some U.S. Government publications available on the topic.

United States Army in World War I (2001) (CD-ROM)includes United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919, volumes 1-17 of original documents compiled in 1919; Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, V. 1-5; an extended guide to the battlefields of World War 1 first published in 1938; and Army Art of World War 1.

To help bolster the morale of troops during the war Stars and Stripes was created and while it was technically the official American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) newspaper, it was editorially independent. The Library of Congress has made the full run of The Stars and Stripes World War I edition available through its digital collections.

To staff and pay for the war, the Government launched campaigns to garner public support. The U.S. Center of Military History has made some of these available from their site.